|
||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
|
The Nuts MARIUS VENTER Marius Venter (48) was born and raised in the Southern Free State, and even though he has since lived in the old South West Africa and all over the country, he is still an avid Free State supporter! Marius believes that everything good in life should be tried at least once. In that spirit he has completed both the Comrades and Argus races, attained a black belt in Karate, parachuted from a perfectly working plane, flown more perfectly working planes, is an avid deep-sea diver, 4x4 enthusiast and a book, music and sport-addict. At present he keeps fit by playing squash and canoeing on a daily basis. Marius, who describes himself as pitifully non-musical, considers his biggest accomplishment as being able to master the violin at the tender age of 45! Even though the idea has been brewing for a long time, the decision to cross Africa from North to South on his Africa Twin was made shortly after summiting Mount Kilimanjaro early in 2006. "Life really is all about living - it is a gift from God, what we do with it is our gift to Him! We have to ensure that every moment is lived to the glory of Jesus Christ". Marius is married to his soul mate Marianne, and has two children: Ruan, and Leoni. He will be walking his daughter down the isle less than a week before embarking on this exciting adventure. Marius is owner of InterExcel, an Information Technology company with, in his own words, undisputedly the best bunch of personnel in the country! TREVOR KEITH Trevor was born in 1970 in the small town of Christiana, West-Transvaal and raised by his parents, Max and Hilda Keith. He matriculated at Hoër Volkskool Heidelberg and studied Social Sciences at the University of Pretoria. For the last 13 years Trevor has have been involved at Kwalata Game Ranch near Hammanskraal. During his studies he started traveling north into Africa; mode of transport then was a backpack and a hitchhiker's thumb. Since 1994 he covered most of East Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania, and crossed the Equator in 1995. This was also the year he traveled the Masai Mara in a Chiraz, and made a great trip in the raining season in and around Narok Kenya. His dream of traveling through Africa on a motorcycle came in 1997 while hitchhiking through Lesotho where he met two Germans on R80GS. The picture/idea stuck, and has now become real! Trevor married Marelize in 1998. Their first trip on a F650 was to Beira, Harare and Vic Falls over a long weekend. Swaziland, Lesotho - Sani Pass followed in the winter. Their travels on motorcycle were interrupted by a close encounter with a donkey on a cold winter's night. After that incident traveling was restricted to planes, hired cars and European countries! Over the years Trevor and Charl, a good friend and business partner, perfected the art of covering a few thousand miles through three or four African countries over a long weekend. A one ten, followed by a Toyota saw them driving long distances to the most amazing places and experiences in Namibia (Ruacana falls), Zambia (Kafue National Park), Botswana (Delta), Zimbabwe and Mozambique. In 2003, Zonique was born and Dawney, their second daughter followed in 2005. The 1150GS became part of the family in 2004. It was at the beginning of February 2006 in the offices of InterExcel, when Marius asked: "Are you in, we want to cover Africa from North to South by motorcycle?" It is now 2007, real, and it is all about living!! SOON PRETORIUS Soon is the owner of The Karate Academy. A once Karate World Champion, Soon has a placid personality and a craving for the unknown. Soon will unfortunately not be completing the north-south venture, since he will be flying back from Niarobi. JOHN HATTON Unfortunately John was unable to obtain all the visas required for the trip, and the disappointment was huge! Plans to meet the guys in Tunis also did not materialise. Not to worry John, we will do the homework on this trip to make it easier for you when you finally realise your cross-Africa dream! John Hatton, born and reared in England, learnt about the adventure when stumbling upon the “It’s about living” website and immediately signed up for the experience. He describes himself as 3 quarters Irish and has been described as “living in a dream world”. This dreamer likes sports, food, books, machines, architecture, music and nature. He has done plenty of traveling and has studied agriculture. His first experience of bikes was in Goa, India where he rented a new 125 Honda and stalled it half a dozen times while the owner looked on cringing! In 2002 a CR250 found him, and he now owns an Africa Twin. John’s journey will already start in England, from where he will take a Channel Ferry to France and a further Mediterranean ferry to Tunisia, where he will meet up with the three South Africans.
|
